New Climate Scenarios Put Major Sections of Boston Underwater

Boston, Massachusetts

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Timothy B. Clark By Timothy B. Clark,
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By Timothy B. Clark

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One scenario predicts sea levels that will be 10 feet higher by the end of the century. But even a 3-foot increase could inundate large sections of the city.

If there was a good reminder about how much of the city of Boston is low-lying and built upon reclaimed land that was once part of the harbor and Charles River, it came this week.  

Thirty percent of Boston could be underwater by the end of the century, according to The Boston Globe, which reported on a new study by university scientists assessing the city’s climate vulnerabilities. Seas could rise some 10 feet, more than twice previous estimates, under the academics’ worst-case scenario.

A map in the report shows that even a 3-foot rise would have dramatic effects in Boston, including higher vulnerability to large coastal storms, including hurricanes and Nor’easters.  

By 1814, what we know today as Boston was beginning to take shape, but in the decades to come, more land was reclaimed from Boston Harbor and the Charles River (Library of Congress Geography & Map Division)

“With higher seas, it takes less precipitation and a less powerful storm surge to produce the same amount of flooding as a more powerful storm would produce when the seas are lower,” according to the report.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who attended a climate summit in Beijing two weeks ago, reacted with a statement saying: “The updated climate projections confirm that we must work together to take bold approaches to prepare Boston for the impacts of climate change.”

The report had bad news for cities all along the East Coast, saying that accelerating melting of Antarctica ice sheets disproportionately threatens them because while seas levels are rising, parts of the Eastern Seaboard are also sinking. That puts places like Norfolk, Virginia; Annapolis, Maryland; New York City; and Boston at more risk.

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Timothy B. Clark is Editor-at-Large at Government Executive’s Route Fifty.

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